According to residents in the Nigerian town of Kukuwa-Gari in the northeastern Yobe state, Boko Haram gunmen rode into the town on motorcycles last Thursday and opened fired, killing at least 160 people, including 60 children.

The residents claim that there were at least 17 radical Islamist gunmen that began spraying bullets and forced villagers to flee to a nearby river, where six other Boko Haram gunmen were positioned to shoot all those who tried to flee from danger.

"We were getting ready to observe evening prayers, all of a sudden we started hearing sounds of gunshots," one unidentified resident told BBC. "We all ran for our dear life into the bush. The following morning we returned home and discovered corpses of 60 children. They all drowned in the river in their effort to escape the attack."

According to residents in the Nigerian town of Kukuwa-Gari in the northeastern Yobe state, Boko Haram gunmen rode into the town on motorcycles last Thursday and opened fired, killing at least 160 people, including 60 children.

The residents claim that there were at least 17 radical Islamist gunmen that began spraying bullets and forced villagers to flee to a nearby river, where six other Boko Haram gunmen were positioned to shoot all those who tried to flee from danger.

"We were getting ready to observe evening prayers, all of a sudden we started hearing sounds of gunshots," one unidentified resident told BBC. "We all ran for our dear life into the bush. The following morning we returned home and discovered corpses of 60 children. They all drowned in the river in their effort to escape the attack."